Dad in a baobab

My dad wrote a bunch of stories from his life and I designed a book of them that he could give to friends and relatives. For the cover I chose this cool photo taken soon after he arrived in Africa as a teenager with his parents. They were driving halfway up the continent in a custom pickup trailer built by my grandfather. That's Dad partway up a baobab tree, along with his mother and two missionary ladies who were traveling with them. Click to enlarge.

Dirt and the Good Life

A book cover I recently designed for Barclay Press; it's written by Lisa and Mark McMinn, professors at George Fox University who are also run Fern Creek Farm. I figured out a way to make the word Dirt out of dirt, and am happy with how it turned out.

How Long? book cover

Cover design for Barclay Press's book How Long?, a sequel of sorts to It's a Dance, which I designed a few years ago. This book again is primarily made up of conversations, this time dealing with a Christian community going through its own theological wilderness.

Just Moms cover

I took a different approach to this book cover design for Just Moms, an anthology of essays by moms about raising kids with the ethical values of peace, justice, simplicity, equality and love. I often try to come up with a single simple image to convey the essence of the book, but for this one I went with a more-is-more approach. I added additional words to the cover, and put in many details drawn from the stories themselves (toy guns, cats, bugs, the jack-o-lantern and the boy in pink shoes).

There's a Geez magazine connection to this book: several authors have had pieces in Geez, and one was even a cover model.

George Fox LACI book cover

Book cover I designed for a textbook for the Liberal Arts and Critical Issues senior class at George Fox University. The book includes chapters by various George Fox professors, as well as excerpts by writers such as Wendell Berry, Jim Wallis and John Stott.

A Hamster is Missing

I did the illustration (but not the cover design) a while back for this book by Ed Spivey Jr., a very funny writer and art director of Sojourners magazine. For the second printing I got to do the cover design as well. Original is at the bottom, redesign at the top.

Through Flaming Sword cover

A book cover design for a spiritual biography of George Fox, the founder of the Friends (Quaker) movement. This book was first published 50 years ago by Barclay Press; this is an updated edition.

Quaker booklet

A little booklet I wrote, illustrated and designed called Ten Reasons the World Would be a Better Place if Everyone was a Quaker (subtitled A Paltry Primer of Quakerism). I sent it out as an illustration self-promo piece. I'll post all ten reasons in the coming days.

Stand Alone book cover

The most patriotic-looking book cover design I ever hope to do. Mark Hatfield was a rare critter in the American political scene: both evangelical and progressive. Book cover design for Barclay Press.

Happy Endings

Book cover I illustrated, including all the handlettering. This wasn't done for a real book, it was just a self-promo piece for me.

118 Days book cover

A book cover for 118 Days about the Christian Peacemaker Teams hostage crisis in Iraq, edited by Tricia Gates Brown. Check it out. Endorsed by Desmond Tutu, Kathy Kelly, Daniel Berrigan and many others.

For the subtitle I used an old speech typewriter given to me by my friend David Brewer. It types in oversized text.

These tunes, this circle

Book cover I designed for a volume of poems by Bill Jolliff. The top one is the final version; the bottom one was based on a proposed title that was later changed. I like them both.

Saving Women from the Church

A book cover design I did for Barclay Press.

From their website: Susan McLeod-Harrison exposes the cultural biases of Jesus' day that created a divide between women and men. And she shows Jesus' response: He shunned cultural or religious expectations when they denigrated or limited women, and acknowledged the full humanity and dignity of women.

It's a Dance

Book cover for Barclay Press for It's a Dance, a book about the theology of the Holy Spirit. Pretty much the entire book is in the form of a conversation in a coffeeshop/pub/church.

Accessible Asceticism

Geez issue 2 includes one of my favorite Geez articles, by publisher Aiden Enns, called Accessible Asceticism (you can read it here). I later reprinted it in this little book to give away.

Free People

My book cover design for Free People by writer and musician Tricia Gates Brown. Free People is a Christian view of global economics, including practical ways we can resist the negative aspects of globalization.